IPI International
			Working with Microsoft Office Packages

Name		: IPI ASP Trials
Type		: Microsoft Access 2000
Designer	: Paul I Ighofose
Date		: 02/03/2006
Requirements	: Microsoft Office 2000+
Function	: Database Web Page Access


Introduction
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In the bid to maintain in depth Income and Expense recording, a fast and accurate form of Reporting / Data Entry has been sought.  Looking at the Northwind Web Page Access, a standard way of accessing Data included in the main object was needed.  XML Trials indicated lack of knowledge when formatting the resulting data, as figures were displayed in the wrong currency format.  The overall size of the divided files is actually less than that of the original files, but with the consideration that not all functionality is present.  The trials were undertaken in an attempt to view the abilities of Database access and the possibility of accessing and manipulating ODBC and SQL Data Sources.  Having read several books on TML and XML, I found that the main break into understanding ASP and Database access came from the IIS package already included with Windows 2000.  The sample files gave me a taste of functionality and with that I have endeavored to make the best use of Web Page access.

Unpacking
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Use the Check Out method with Winzip, or extract to the given Folders, to acheive complete functionality.  Edit the ASP files in Notepad to change File Locations to suit your system layout and location of the Northwind.mdb and Contact.mdb sample databases.  You will also need to have IIS or Web Server functions in order to view files.

Findings
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Having designed several files and gained structural understanding, files designed became templates and time and effort was greatly reduced.  Although ODBC database access has not been attended to, a general appreciation of the possibilities of database management has been gained.  With all this in mind, It is true that Microsoft are constantly improving the performance and functionality of the Access Database.  With a little know how, one can understand why I feel that all accounting software generally have a MS Access feel to them.  Taking a brief look at SQL 7, I have found that Access appears easier to interact with when writing SQL statements especially when it comes to date and currency formatting.  This may prove quite different with later progress, but for now Access offers the levels of interaction looked for.

Operating
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As all pages included are ASP documents, save the Login Page, viewing can only be done with an IIS or other Web Server Setup.

The Login Web Page has been added and all ASP documents amended to use the settings from that page.  Previous desings offered fixed settings that would have needed to be changed for those with different operating structures.  

It is not recomended to use the Password Fields in the Login Page as this information is transmitted in readable text form and will show up in Page Access History.  Using the current settings you can use the IUSR_YourComputerName User account and give it access permission in SQL to view the given pages and Access will not need User ID or Passwords for the given documents.